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| Now it's the Sikhs' turn, separatists' | | | RUSTAM
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Aug 1: On July 28, the fanatics attacked Mithun Singh, a resident of Divar in Tral town, in the Malanpora area of Pulwama district. He was harassed, insulted and abused. Not only this, they "chopped" his hair (one of the religious symbols of Sikhs) and outraged the sensitivities of the entire Sikh community. The bigots were not content with all this. They asked him to raise anti-India and pro-independence slogans and join protest. The poor, hapless, unarmed and unprotected Mithun Singh obeyed the fanatics' dictates to escape their wrath and cruelties and save his life. Even this gesture on the part of Mithun Singh did not satisfy the fanatics. They ordered him to offer prayers in the fashion the followers of Islam offer. The determined Mithun Singh rejected out-of-hand the fanatics' order. By the grace of God Mithun Singh is alive and fighting for justice and protection.
The July 28 incident sparked widespread protests in Jammu, with the aggrieved and outraged Sikh community demanding stern action against the radical Islamists and demanding a foolproof security for the handful Sikhs who are still living in the turbulent Kashmir Valley where the extremists and separatists are playing the shots and the government finding itself in total disarray and in a precarious situation unable to decide what to do and what not to do. The condemnable incident also evoked a very strong response from other non-Muslims, all expressing solidarity with the outraged, shocked and extremely angry Sikh community and putting forth similar demands. The protests in Jammu continue unabated. Hundreds of angry Sikhs staged peaceful protests at several places in Kashmir as well, including Srinagar, Baramulla and Anantnag.
As mentioned earlier, there are elements in the establishment and outside and there are umpteen outfits in Kashmir which are bent upon clearing the Kashmir Valley of all the non-Muslims, whose number may not be even 10,000 out of a total of nearly five million souls. Equally noteworthy is the fact that what was done to the poor Mithun Singh on July 28 is not a new development that must make all of us, including the authorities in New Delhi, to sit up to review the nature of prevailing situation in the Kashmir Valley and work out a clear-cut and definite stringent policy designed to neutralize the fanatics and separatists in Kashmir. The non-Muslims, including the Kashmiri Hindus whose number may not be even 3,000, have been witnessing such humiliations and attacks on their religion and culture ever since the reemergence of the separatist movement in Kashmir in 1989. It is not possible here to catalogue such incidents here. The Kashmiri Sikhs and the Kashmiri Hindus know everything, but they do not speak publicly for they are mortally afraid of the extremists' wrath.
It is intriguing that those responsible for the humiliation and persecution have expressed concern over the gory incident. The Tahrik-e-Hurriyat of Syed Ali Shah Geelani has termed the incident as a "conspiracy to create differences between the Sikh and Muslim communities in the Valley. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq's spokesperson has described the act as "unfortunate and intolerable", and added that "there is no place for such sectarian violence in the Valley" and that "such incidents pose danger to the freedom movement, which is going through a crucial period." He, like the Geelani group, also termed the incident as a "conspiracy against the Kashmiri struggle." Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief Asiya Andrabi has said: "It is an act of vested interests who want to divert the attention of people at this crucial juncture of Quit JK Movement." Obviously, the Kashmiri separatists are hinting at the government.
These separatists are only shedding crocodile tears to mislead and hoodwink the Indian public opinion and tell the international community that theirs' is a secular movement and that certain vested interests (read official agencies) are responsible for what was done to Mithun Singh. They are talking of brotherhood and peaceful co-existence. Whom are they fooling? The people in India and the civilized international community know it for certain that the Kashmiri fanatics have persecuted the non-Muslim minorities in Kashmir and hounded them out of the Valley and that the today's Kashmir is inhabited only by the followers of one particular religion. Intriguingly, New Delhi is maintaining a stoic silence. Perhaps, it, like the Kashmir's ruling elite, has come to believe that Kashmir is not a land where the non-Muslims can live. After all, the non-Muslims in Kashmir are considered as fifth columnists and Indian agents. Even the "great" Sheikh Abdullah has in his autobiography Aatis-e-Chinar has dismissed the Kashmiri Hindus as "fifth columnists."
This is the reality of Kashmir. Will New Delhi intervene and stem the rot? (Concluded) |
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